Alamosa and Uncle Ben and Aunt Jenny

After a fun date night for Mom and Dad in Colorado Springs (where we got to see old friends, shop and go out for a very fun night of dinner and dancing) we went to Alamosa to visit Jon's brother Ben, his wife Jenny, and Kramer too (and although we have yet to see the newest Clouse, he/she was sure talked about a lot!). Kiley spent the night away from Mom and Dad and our reunion was fun (a little emotional for Kiley).
We had a lot of fun and Ben and Jenny's, but just wish our time with them was a little longer. I tried convincing Kiley that Aunt Jenny and Uncle Ben's cat was not nice, but she didn't believe us until Kramer hissed menacingly at her, I'm sure he would have roared or pounced if his weight would have allowed him.
As any of you who have tried, you know how hard it is to take Aunt Jenny's picture. But because Kiley just loves Aunt Jenny she was a trooper and let us take a few. Ben and Jenny had to spoil Kiley and bought her a box full of nail polish, lipstick, and eye shadow. Jenny showed Kiley how to put everything on and she was in heaven painting everyones nails!

Toads anyone?

Papa Paul and GB planned for Kiley to be at their house like only grandparents could. There was a sand box, a swing set, a wading pool and so many toys! Guess what Kiley was the most excited about? TOADS- big ones and little ones. She couldn't get enough of them.

Our little fish.....

Kiley turned into quite the little fish this summer. She loved going to the local pool in La Junta with her Dad, me and Papa Paul. The first time she went she was only brave enough to dunk her head in the water a few times, and she stuck to her dad like glue. By the time we went again she was trying to swim around and jumping off the side of the pool multiple times.

La Junta, GB and Papa Paul!

We made it to La Junta and Papa Paul and GB have been keeping Miss Kiley busy with toads (yes, big and small), baby chickens (hatched the day after we got here), roosters, kittens, a tree house (which she calls "my house") and toys aplenty. I'll post some of the fun pictures from our time here.

Colorado Springs Zoo!

Kiley and I made it to Colorado in one piece- and we were SO happy to see Dad (Jon), finally!

We were lucky enough to meet up with Dennis, Michelle and Darian (who is 2 like Kiley) and Erin and Chase (6 months) at the zoo in Colorado Springs. I was so happy to see Erin (my college roommate) and it was my first time meeting Mr. Chase Jordan who is an absolute doll!

I think it was the hottest day we have experienced so far (well, until we reached La Junta) and all of us got our money's worth at the zoo! Even our Colorado Natives were talking about the heat, it was a scorcher! I think I sweated off about 5 pounds....

Kiley had a blast feeding the giraffes and seeing the monkeys. She told her Dad that the best part of the zoo was the Hippo- and the Gorilla picking its nose! The day was filled with train rides, the Merry-Go-Round and lots and lots of animals. As soon as we got into the car Kiley crashed, it was a very busy day!

Horses Anyone?

Shea was nice enough to take us to her friend's ranch so the girls could ride her pony. Here is a picture of the two girls and Shea.

Washington Fun!

The girls have been in heaven picking strawberries, cherries, going to Birch Bay and playing in the water, picking flowers, shopping and sun bathing. Wow, what could two girls ask for more? Plus they have Papa and Gram doting on their every whim.... it is going to be hard to get them to leave!
Did I mention the cows? Yes Alaska girls are fascinated with live stock! Even horses... more pictures to come with them.

Washington Bound

I am so glad that Camryn was traveling with Kiley and myself- she was such a great helper! Kiley is not the best traveler and Ryn really helped keep an eye on her and distract her when necessary. The first picture is of Kiley having a fit at the Anchorage airport and the second of hte girls having snacks on the airplane.

Best Friends

Our first stop was in Anchorage and the girls had so much fun playing (and fighting too?), it was hard to leave. Kiley got to go to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time and got to play with her best friend Olivia. Camryn spent every waking second with Rikki and wants to move to Anchorage to be closer to her cousin. We are going to miss the Johnson's!

Travel

The Clouse women are leaving June 22nd! We will be out and about - Anchorage, Lynden and then La Junta. We hope to see you in our travels. I will try to post pictures while we are gone but I can make no guarantees!

Silly Girls!

The two Ki-Ki's had so much fun playing together like best friends before the Johnson's headed to Anchorage. Kiley still "talks" to Olivia, she misses her and can't wait until she sees her later this month. On one of our rare sunny days both girls stripped and decided to go swimming Alaska style- in totes and bowls on our deck!

Kiley and Jon in the front of our house......

Kiley, Jon and Shannon in front of our house!

We moved into our new house during the last week of May. It has been slow going unpacking and organizing everything, but I am slowly getting there. Jon has been busy with his preassignments for graduate school and with work, so I have been doing the unpacking with Kiley's help. Here are a few pictures of us in front of the house.
My Dad brought up a ton of beautiful flowers for me from Washington, so the outside of the house looks great so far!

Craziness!

The Clouse household has been crazy for about the last month! Tory graduated, then we had a HUGE BBQ for him and his family (I will post pictures later), we moved into our beautiful NEW house, and now we have been trying to get organized....I have faith it will happen!

I will post a picture of Kiley during our move, and then work on posting some pictures before, during and after!
Pictures of the Clouses in front of our new house coming soon!

Peek A Boo!

Tory's Prom

Tory had his first prom in Dillingham last weekend. He even had a date. Of course we didn't find out he had a date until about 4 hours before prom, then Jon had to give him a crash course about the ins and outs of a typical prom- corsages, boutonniere's, dinner, etc. Phew, he figured it out and all went well. As you can see from his pictures he looked very handsome in his tux. Cody got dressed up too and was also Tory's "date". More pictures of Tory and his female date at the prom will come later.

Our trip to New Stuyahok 2007

Jon and I were honored when we were asked to speak at the Class of 2007 Graduation on May 11th. We brought the whole family (except Kami, and she still hasn't forgiven us), and stayed the night. Here are a few pictures of Kiley playing at the beach and the playground. I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of her at the dance! We slovied around the entire time we were there- eating at two feasts, taking a nice hot steam, and then dancing past midnight. But it was so good to be home! Phew, we were tired pups when we got back to Dillingham on Saturday!

Ryn and Kiley

Kiley and Camryn had a lot of fun playing with Jon at Max and Angela's house. We had a nice family BBQ and then the Mom's got to be lazy on the couches while the dad's entertained the little ones. Heavenly.

Kiley Before and After!

Kiley before..... isn't she cute? She was dressed in cute pink hat her Daddy got her from Anchorage.
Kiley after... look at that face! She had too much fun outside with her cousins Dillon and Triston in their yard playing in the old camp fire!

Best Friends Tubbing!

Olivia came over for a visit last week and both her and Kiley got right into the tub. Here they are making silly faces for the camera.

Spring Children's Fair 2007

Kiley, Jon, and myself had a blast at the Children's Fair held at our local Head Start this last Saturday. Kiley got to face paint both her Mommy's and Daddy's faces and even let me draw a heart on her face. She got to play with the play dough inside and have some snacks. The high light of the fair was everything there was to do outside. She played and played and played some more! They have outdoor equipment that is just her size, plus a sand box with all kinds of goodies. She also enjoyed the bubbles at the bubble table but that wasn't as much fun as blowing them with Daddy at home.

Hunting Eggs

Happy Easter!

We spent the morning together as a family and then at 2:00 the WHOLE family came over and we had enough food to feed an army! I wish I would have gotten a picture of all the food that was there.... my stomach hurt I ate so much. The LeClair's, Chaney's, Johnson's, 1 Roberts (Auntie Em) and the Dray family came over. We ate until we burst and then the kids were chomping at the bit to have an Easter egg hunt in the back yard. The five Dray girls, two Chaney boys (Graelin opted out), two Johnson girls, one Clouse girl, and one LeClair girl had a ball finding eggs! There is still a lot of snow on the ground but that didn't stop them. We also discovered that having three dogs in the family makes Easter egg hunting a challenge to say the least.........

Kiley and her Easter Experience

Kiley woke up very happy Easter morning because the bunny had been to her house. This is the first Easter she has been excited about hunting eggs and the Easter Bunny, and was able to hold her basket and find eggs on her own.

Kiley and the triplets.....

As many of you know Kiley has to go sleep with at least one baby since Karen got her twin babies for her birthday, and her blankie. She loved the brown eyed baby until her Dad threw it in the wash and its head fell off, then she started loving the blue eyed baby. Well, when Camryn was in Washington with Papa and Gram she got to go to Toys R Us. Guess what they found? TWO more babies! Kiley has to sleep with all three EVERY night, even at nap time.